Shell first published their Business Principles in 1976 as a sign of commitment to sustainable development, balancing short and long-term interests and to integrate economic, environmental and social considerations in their decision making. All employees, contractors and joint ventures are expected to work in line with these principles. They also expect their suppliers to apply equivalent principles. Shell aims to deliver shareholder value with four points from their mission statement. First by manufacturing and supplying oil products and services that satisfy the needs of its customers. Then the next two are to constantly achieve operational excellence and to conduct business in a safe, environmentally sustainable and economically optimum manner. The last point is employing a diverse, innovative and result-oriented team motivated to deliver excellence ("Our values", n.d.). Their values closely correspond with their approach to …show more content…
Shell's approach to sustainability coincides with Carroll's four-part definition of sustainability by first addressing the economic requirements of being profitable by maximizing sales and minimizing cost. On their website, they even have a pyramid similar to the ones shown in the slides in class. They use the pyramid though, to break down their approach into three basic sections. The first section is running a safe, efficient, responsible and profitable business and is the base of the pyramid. This includes global standards and processes in place to manage safety both in the environment and community they work in. As the foundation of their approach, they aim to continuously improve the operations to prevent incidents and to identify and avoid them where possible. This is done in an attempt to minimize adverse environmental and social impacts and they report their performance in an annual sustainability report. The sustainability report has been done voluntarily every year since 1997. The second section is sharing wider benefits where they operate, meaning they give back to the communities they work in. When building in a new community, Shell invests into the community and begins its social commitment to the community. A new Shell facility means new job openings and they choose sourcing from local suppliers and pay all taxes and royalties that help develop the local economies.